If All Else Fails
by Lang Noi
Summary: When Marth is attacked after a huge battle, he is forced to participate in a tournament with 34 other prisoners for the amusement of the crowds. With a hostage situation to keep the fighters in line, the mysterious Master Hand seems supreme. HIATUS.
1. Hunter and the Hunted

Chapter One: Hunters and the Hunted

A/N: I know that I should be working on my other stories right now, but I just got a surge of inspiration for a story idea I've been putting off for almost two years.

Yes, it's Marth-centric.

* * *

The world had become Hell. 

That was the only thought of any who set eyes on the battlefield. Scorched earth was just barely seen through the flocks of scavengers, both human and animal. Bodies of soldiers from both sides were strewn as far as the eye could see, and the vultures had only begun to pick them clean. There was no way to tell who had won.

High above, riding the stink of decay for miles, was a dark shape nearly forty feet across. Red-black wings of leather supported the huge beast as it coasted on the death-warmed thermals, searching for prey. With a coal-colored body and an underbelly like blood, the creature drifted through the sky, ready to dive and snatch up any survivors for its master.

Its master preferred his victims alive.

Like a cross between a two-legged dragon and a demon from the bowels of the earth, the abyssal drake flicked its long, whip-like tail as it spotted something other than a rotting corpse or a worthless waif. This battle had needlessly made orphans of hundreds of villagers from nearby towns. The drake cared nothing for them unless it was hungry.

Having just feasted, the monster found itself able to concentrate on the task at hand – swooping down on and carrying away the one in the blue cloak.

From what it could tell, the straggler was around young-adulthood in human years. The prey was probably male; the ravaged setting was familiar enough to the drake for it to remember that the survivors were _usually_ males. It probably had something to do with the fact that human males were stronger than their females. His hair was blue, and he brandished a length of sharpened metal (a 'sword', the drake recalled) at another human that the drake had overlooked.

The second human was much larger (more meal-sized), and covered in a hard shell that the abyssal drake recognized as metal armor. The worthless wretch was garbed in red and his shell had been punctured by a long wooden shaft. The drake's keen eyes saw the blood and it realized that the human was dying or dead. It let out a whining noise – it preferred its prey to scream as it was swallowed. The first human was shouting something in a language the drake had not been taught to comprehend.

The drake could not understand its soon-to-be prey's words, but it understood anger and its savage heart filled with glee at the thought of ruining a being's life even further.

* * *

"How could you do this?!" Marth demanded of his opponent, beaten and speared through the lung by one of the blue-haired prince's soldiers. 

The corpse could not speak and did not have to – the frenzied grin held by his once-great adversary told all.

The man had once been a trusted ambassador from another land. Though not an Akanean native, the man had been accepted into nearly every fold of Altean society. He had been well-spoken, boisterous, and occasionally a drunkard. He had been relied upon by many of the palace dwellers and even peasants and merchant folk.

Then the problems had begun. First, almost three thousand gold coins had suddenly gone missing from the royal treasury. Soon afterwards, riots had become so commonplace that soldiers had been required to stem the tide of chaos. Marth's own father had died, for no apparent reason. He'd simply gone to bed once and never woken up.

There had seemed to be no connection until one of the rioters (who had been brought in for interrogation) had told all. About the bribed mobs, about the grand master plan, and about the future of Akanea's people.

The trusted ambassador, the great man, had been an advanced troop for the faraway kingdom of Bern, who had planned to invade as soon as their king finished conquering the continent of Elibe.

It wasn't all that surprising that the man had managed to raise an army in his wake. There were enough fools in the kingdom that would follow the traitor. Marth had only been surprised when they struck in so many numbers. Razing villages and towns in their path, they had been like locusts of human lives, drunk on battle-rage and blindly following a corrupted commander. Their campaign of destruction had ended violently at the hands of Marth's army.

As it happened, Marth actually had very few soldiers available. Most were attempting to set up a defense of the coast in the direction of Bern. Marth hadn't considered the possibility that the enemy had amassed an army of equal size to his.

That had left the four thousand Alteans Marth had under his command to fight almost thirty thousand rebels. The smaller group had only two advantages – they were trained to fight with proper weapons and armor, and they had almost fifty mages at their disposal. Superior numbers, Marth had known, would drag them down in the very end, if nothing else.

So it did, but not before Marth's loyal soldiers slew more than four men each.

Now there was no one left alive but the prince, the vultures, and the abyssal drake.

Speaking of the emissary of Hell, the prey had stopped paying attention to his surroundings. Now was its chance to strike.

The drake's muzzle split into a fiendish grin as it folded its wings and fell into a hunting dive. The parched wind blew past its sleek black body as it dropped out of the air like some killer bat. This was what its kind was meant for – swooping in and carrying off suitable prey for later devouring.

Marth noticed the growing shadow hanging over him far before the horrid creature in the air dove at him with a battle cry at the ready. Reacting solely on instinct, he flung himself out of the way, rolling to face the area where he'd been standing just in time to see the wyvern crush the body of his fallen foe.

The creature faced him, its red eyes aglow with malice, then unhooked its claws from the traitor's corpse and stalked towards him. Wisps of fine ash coming up from the scorched ground made it hard for Marth to breathe.

He coughed, and the monster lunged.

It leapt into the air, seemingly trying to crush him with its immense weight. Marth sidestepped as far as he could, and then slashed at the beast as it missed. So did he.

The wyvern-like demon swept into the air again, disturbing even more ash that got in Marth's eyes. Rubbing at his eyes furiously, Marth looked up just in time to duck under the beast's claws as it took a swipe at his head.

He had underestimated its agility, however. Swooping in from behind and swerving hard to hit him head-on, it lifted a huge set of talons and bowled him over, pinning him under its foot. Half-crushed into the barren, bloody dirt, Marth watched in stunned terror as the beast lowered its head until its dripping teeth were within an inch of his face. _I'm going to die._

The scarlet tongue slid out between the blackened fangs, caressing Marth's jaw line and curling around his neck as the prince felt his heart pound furiously against his ribs. It inhaled, breathing so hard that it unsettling his dark hair, then blew out a strange green vapor.

Marth found that the darkness around his vision seemed to come much faster than it ever had before…

With the blue-haired human securely limp in its coal-colored talons, the abyssal drake leapt into the reddening sky, leaving the scorched, dead earth to rot. The drake didn't care about its surroundings – so long as everyone else was dead; it had no problem with leaving an area so prey-less as this.

As the drake beat its sail-like wings and set course for its master's lair, its insides seemed to shrivel up. It hated its current master, but it wasn't as if any of the others had been any better. After serving in the legions of Bern, and before that under the command of Nergal from the far-off land of Elibe, it had learnt to despise human masters. Nergal had been a fool, and the current king of Bern was no better. At least its new master understood why it wanted power.

Its current master was also more powerful than the beast, and it knew it.

* * *

"I think he's coming around," someone mumbled about six inches from his head. The urge to wake rose within him at the sound of the voice. It was a male voice, but younger-sounding than Marth's.

Marth stirred very slowly, aching in as many places as he had after his first day in the military training program. It was sort of like being kicked by a horse, only multiplied by eighty. Even when he finally managed to open his eyes, he was dazed and confused for a moment while his vision tried to clear.

Then he found himself looking up at a red-haired boy with bright blue eyes. The first reaction he would have had, if he was feeling normal and upright, would be to scramble away. Seeing as the person was above him and Marth was obviously lying down, in pain, he wasn't going anywhere.

"You okay?" the boy asked, leaning back. Marth abruptly realized that he was lying on a cot or something similar, and that the boy was sitting on a wooden stool next to it.

Marth sat up slowly, bracing himself on locked elbows when he felt like dropping from exhaustion. His impending headache was soon added to the overall list of aches. "I will be."

The boy shook his head. "Stubborn, aren't you?" Still, he smiled and helped Marth sit completely upright.

"Where are we?" Marth asked.

The redhead wordlessly jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. Marth looked around him and was surprised to find the bars of a dungeon cell. "This," the boy explained coolly, "is the lowest level of the dungeons. We, along with about twenty or so other people, are prisoners here."

"Including me." Marth craned his neck and saw another young man. Beside him was a boy of no more than ten years. Both had identical golden hair and blue eyes, and the older one wore two blue earrings. Most astonishing was the fact that they both had large, pointed ears sticking out from the sides of their heads.

The young man bowed, and his cap seemed to flow with the motion. "My name is Link." He straightened, then as his young friend bowed, he added. "And he is also named Link." The boy stood up straight, smiling shyly. He ducked behind the young man almost immediately afterwards.

"And I'm Roy," said the redhead as an afterthought.

"Marth," said the prince, extending his hand to Roy. Marth was vaguely irritated to notice that he, as well as everyone else in the room, was unarmed.

Roy grinned and clasped it. "Nice to meet you."

Marth nodded. "It is indeed." His mouth curved into a frown soon after Roy released his hand. "Why are we here?"

The younger Link and Roy shrugged. Marth sighed. No hope there.

Then the older Link said evenly, "I've been here since there were any prisoners at all. I know."

Everyone blinked at him. "So?" Roy prompted.

"We are here to fight." Link said sadly. The younger Link gasped. Roy's mouth hardened into a grim line. Marth's eyes narrowed. "The last 'tournament' was held with twelve fighters. Myself, Mario, Luigi, and Samus were included."

Roy sat down on the cot, his eyes dark. "What happened?"

Link sighed. "We fought. Mario won, of course, but the one who kept us here has yet to make good on his promise to release us."

Marth, however, had hit a snag. "Who are the other prisoners?"

Roy held up both hands. As he named each fighter, he put down one finger. "Samus, Mario, the older Link, Captain Falcon, Ness, Yoshi, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Fox, and Kirby have been here since the first fight. So have Pikachu and Jigglypuff. There are others, but we don't really know their names yet."

"'Jigglypuff'?" Marth repeated blankly.

"Don't let the name fool you – Jigglypuff's still pretty dangerous, or so Link tells me." Roy said with a faint smile. "I've been told that she looks rather like a pink snowball with ears.

"Anyway, Link doesn't know who else is here besides you, me, and the kid." Roy nodded at the younger Link. "We're all new, and that means, according to him, that we don't get to see who else is here until the training sessions start up."

"Ah," was all Marth could say. "So…how did all of you end up here? I can't remember how I did." Something had happened, he knew that. But everything after seeing the traitor's corpse and before waking up was a blur.

Roy shrugged. "Big battle where I was. The enemy was using wyverns, so no one thought it was a big deal when one flew over. I guess we figured we'd just shoot it down like all the ones before." Roy flopped onto the cot, blowing his hangs out of his face. "Next thing I knew, I was here."

Link nodded. He had apparently heard this story before. "It seems that way for nearly all of the combatants. I guess that dragon is our host's way of inviting people." His voice was very dry as he spoke.

"Who's the jailor, anyway?" Roy asked.

"Apparently, our captor's name is Master Hand, though I've never seen him. Mario may have – he did win the tournament the last time around, but he disappeared at about that time, as well. We guessed he fought Master Hand." Link shrugged. "Anyway, we only have to worry about the two types of soldiers that Master Hand uses."

"Two? Even an underpaid army has at least three regiments – archers, cavalry, and infantry." Roy countered.

Link pointed out of their cell to prove his point. A human-shaped creature made of purple crystal loped by, holding a sword. In fact, the shape of it was more than human…it even had the ears sticking out from the sides of its head and the crystalline equivalent of Link's tunic and hat.

"That would be one of my copies." Link said tonelessly. "Master Hand made these after the first group of fighters. They're called Fighting Polygons."

"Besides those," he continued, "there are what we call Fighting Wire Frames." At that moment, a similar creature made of glowing purple wire, which followed the Polygon with the symbol in its chest pulsing rapidly. Marth noted that it had a knife in its hand. As the Wire Frame passed out of sight, there was a shattering noise and high, harsh laughter. A moment or two later, the Wire Frame was walking back the way it had come, whistling without a face, and twirling the knife in its fingers.

"The Fighting Wire Frames and Fighting Polygons spend most of their time either acting like prison guards or knifing each other." Link said, shaking his head.

"I understand, I think." Marth responded in a low tone. He glanced at the two Links mildly. "So, what can we do to tell you two apart? It would be rather inconvenient to have to clarify every time we called your names."

The Links exchanged glances. The younger one shrugged, and then spoke softly in a voice that did not seem to have been used for a long time, "You can call me Young Link. Or half-pint, since everyone else does."

"'Everyone else'?" Marth repeated. He felt like a fool.

"Yeah. Besides the original twelve, there are now fourteen new people, including you, me, and the half-pint." Roy explained in a bored tone. "Apparently, we're separated by what type of weapon we use. We meet everyone else about once every two days."

Marth thought about that for a minute, then shrugged. He'd find a way out of this eventually. He had to. Altea would be crushed by Bern if he couldn't help.

"Will that be soon?" he asked.

Roy nodded. "I think so. A few hours, maybe."

"Have you recovered enough?" Link asked.

"Enough to get out of bed, I think." Marth answered, standing up and walking a few paces around the room to demonstrate. He was still sore, but he had rcovered enough to move easily.

"Good. Usually, meetings involve some light sparring, so be ready if somebody decides not to go easy on you."

"That can't be a good thing."

"It isn't."

Young Link walked to the cell door. The others turned, and Marth noticed a male Fighting Wire Frame messing with the lock. With a click, the cell door swung open.

"Out, scum," it hissed.

Marth glanced at the others. Roy nodded. Young Link had dashed behind Link again and was glaring at the creature. Link sighed.

Slowly, all four of them made their way out of the cage, the Frame gesturing forcefully behind them with a glowing pink sword. In Marth's experience, anything that gave off light (such as a torch) was not something he wanted against his back. Especially not with an aggressive monster behind it.

Mild as sheep, they were herded out of the catacombs into a spacious, well-lit arena. Twenty-two other...people were already there. Marth wasn't sure he could even count most of them as people.

Off in the corner, there was a huge turtle-like creature with massive spikes and a shock of orange-red hair. It seemed to be arguing with two men in green and red, along with a pretty young woman in pink. In the middle of the arena, what Marth had thought was a shadow turned out to be the vague shape of a man, but when it turned sideways, it disappeared. It was apparently conversing with a young black-haired boy wearing a strange red hat.

And that was just five of them.

"Marth, stop staring." Roy muttered, nudging him in the ribs. He grabbed Marth's wrist and tugged him over to where Link and Young Link were speaking to a very pretty girl in pink with ears similar to theirs. She was smiling, but still seemed worried for some reason.

The three elves turned to face him and Roy as soon as they approached. Marth bowed, as did Roy.

"Thank you," the girl said kindly. "My name is Princess Zelda. However, I would prefer it if you just called me Zelda. This is not the place for formalities."

Marth straightened. "And my name is Marth."

Zelda smiled again. "It is very nice to meet you." She sighed. "I am sorry that you have also come to this place as a prisoner as well."

Not that Marth wasn't fond of Zelda already, but he didn't feel any odd swooping sensation that he had expected to upon meeting such a beautiful woman. Perhaps it was because of the look that Link had given the princess. Link cared about her, and besides, Marth had someone waiting for him at home. Sheeda, if she survived Bern's impending invasion, was the one Marth had his heart set on.

"How is this tournament run?" Marth asked. "I assume we are matched up with opponents from the beginning and fight our way up."

"Correct." Zelda replied. "I am not sure how, but Mario seems to think that our opponents will be random this time. We may fight any person here."

"Ganondorf's here, right?" Link asked, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Marth noted that the topic did not seem to concern him in the least, and strode over to Roy to speak to him. It didn't stop him from hearing what Zelda was saying, however.

Zelda nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, this 'Master Hand' has also broken the seal on the Evil Realm. He is here, though greatly weakened. His experience after attempting to steal the Triforce has not been kind." She sighed again and wrung her hands nervously. "It will still be difficult for anyone who faces him, however."

Standing a fair distance away, Marth glanced from one to the other, not quite understanding. Roy noticed his confusion and grinned. "Have you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Roy smiled. "Well, Link - the half-pint, too - is pretty quiet around everyone except us. He's got the reputation of being a mute around the older fighters."

"Besides Mario?"

"Yeah."

Marth paused. "Who is Mario?"

Roy pointed to where the two men in red and green were still arguing with the turtle-creature. "He's the guy in the red shirt." Marth noticed that the shorter of the two, dressed in red and blue, had a moustache and a red hat. He seemed to be more involved in the debate that either the green-clothed man or the blonde in pink.

"Mario's the oldest out of us, besides maybe Ganondorf. He has senority, and even if he wasn't the oldest, most people would listen to him. He has a good head on his shoulders." Roy elaborated. "Like Link is the hero for Hyrule - Zelda's kingdom - Mario's the hero for the Mushroom Kingdom. The girl in pink is Princess Peach Toadstool, the current ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"So he has a good reputation?" Marth asked.

"Yes. The turtle is Bowser, who is Mario's main enemy in the same way that Link and Ganondorf are always fighting." Roy went on. "The man in green is Mario's little brother, Luigi. He's shy compared to Mario, but he's a good guy."

"How do you know all of this?"

"You don't get any credit for leadership if you don't bother to get to know the people around you." Roy said mildly. "I asked everybody who didn't look like they'd eat me." He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Do you want to meet anyone?"

"I don't know, honestly." Marth replied. This was a little too much to get used to.

"Oh, come on." Roy said. "You aren't going to get used to anything at all if you don't try stuff."

Marth shook his head. "I'll take it one step at a time." Marth looked up at the ceiling, far away and glowing faintly. Returning his gaze to Roy, he asked, "What about you?"

Roy shrugged. "If you really want to know, I'll be happy to tell you."

"Please."

"Okay then," Roy said, leaning against the metallic wall that framed the arena. "Where to start..." He snapped his fingers. "I was born in Pharae, a small country in the League of Lycia. My father was the reigning lord, but he fell ill a little while ago and someone else is running it in his place at this point. I was appointed general of the Pharaean armies just in time as the kingdom of Bern decided to invade."

"Bern?" Marth repeated, thunderstruck.

"Yes. What's wrong?" Roy sounded concerned.

"Bern sent a spy to my people a short while ago." Marth explained softly, watching Roy's blank face carefully for a reaction. "He raised an army in his wake and tried to conquer the continent. In the last battle, he destroyed the entire internal defense at the cost of his life and lives of thousands of his followers. Before then, though, he was quick to assure me that Bern would invade Akanea as soon as they crushed all resistance in their home continent of Elibe."

Roy winced. "Ouch. Still, he would have been wrong." At Marth's surprised look, Roy added, "I was my duty to see to the defense of nearly every country in Elibe. We fought Bern to a standstill and killed their king several months ago. His half-sister Guinevere is currently the queen and she's much more peaceful than he was."

Marth felt a pleasant sort of surprise fill his heart. He chuckled. "In that case, I am glad that you led your people to victory." A frown crossed his face. "I thought that we were going to...spar, for lack of a better word. This seems more like a meeting of friends than anything."

"Oh, this is just foreplay, you might say," the redhead replied, jabbing a finger at a huge scoreboard hanging from one wall. "The matchups for practice are up there."

"And you don't seem worried...why?"

Roy indicated a distant box with his name in it. On the corresponding box, it read _Captain Falcon_. "I need to work on speed, and he's the fastest one here." Roy grinned at Marth's skeptical look. "Oh, he won't kill me. The guy's nicer than that."

"I'd be lying if I said I shared your optimism." Marth replied, deadpan.

"Pessimist." Roy teased.

"I prefer to call it realism." Marth responded coolly. "Who am I fighting?"

Roy glanced at the board. "Samus, one of the senior fighters, like Falcon and Mario."

Marth sighed as Roy indicated a person wearing orange armor with what seemed to be a cannon on his arm. The helmet swiveled to face him, and Marth met the blank green screen evenly until the person looked away.

"Don't worry. She's not going to hurt you that badly." Roy said, seeming ridiculously cheerful.

"I'm fighting a _girl_?" Marth demanded.

"Yes. Don't let that hold you back, though. She's beaten nearly everyone here at some point or another."

Marth sighed dejectedly. "Blast it all."

"I know what you mean."

"No, I'm pretty sure you don't."

* * *

A/N: So, chapter one's over. Marth's going to see hell from Samus before too long. 

And yes, Link is talkative around Marth, Roy, and Young Link. And maybe Zelda. Just not the general public.

Plot stuff and the pulling away of Marth's security blanket comes later.

Read and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!


	2. Getting Grounded

Chapter Two: Getting Grounded

A/N: Eh…the response to this story was lukewarm at best. Whatever.

Still, a big thank you to E.U.M. and Jess.

The title of this chapter refers to stability, not discipline, okay?

* * *

Marth debated whether or not to find some way out of fighting his opponent. There was no way that he would be able to bring himself to strike a woman. It was a weakness in many ways, but he simply couldn't bend his code of honor enough to allow for it.

"Don't underestimate her." Roy said sharply, if quietly, in Marth's ear. "She's a bounty hunter and she _will_ beat you into the ground if you try to go easy on her."

"But-" Marth's protest was only half-formed when a loud, wrathful voice filled the chamber.

"ATTENTION, FIGHTERS!" the voice boomed, making Marth flinch out of reflex. He had only heard such a volume twice in his life - once when a blasting shell had exploded prematurely, killing the four men who had made the mistake of dropping it, and again when he had fought and slain Medeus.

As he looked around, though, he noticed that no one else seemed overly bothered by the intrusion; in fact, they were even giving him strange looks. Link gave Marth a sympathetic look, indicating one long ear with his left hand. 'If you think that's bad, you haven't heard anything yet,' the motion seemed to say. The younger Link just tightened his grasp on the elder's tunic, mouth pressed into a strangely grim line. Zelda's blue eyes narrowed slightly and she put a hand on Young Link's shoulder, looking equally serious.

"This could be worse." Roy muttered by Marth's side.

"I HAVE DECIDED TO ADD MORE REGIMENS OF OPPONENTS FOR YOUR PLEASURE DURING THE THIRD ANNUAL MASTER TOURNAMENT. MAKE ROOM IN YOUR CELLS, MINIONS." There was a loud cracking noise as the transmission ceased. The fighters immediately broke out into mutterings.

"And that's Master Hand," the redhead added a moment later.

"Funny. I thought you were going to say 'Yes, actually it _can_ get worse.'" Marth said dryly. "Please, don't let me keep you from it."

Link chose that moment to walk over to them, Samus and Captain Falcon in tow. The swordsman's expression was very stern. "Mario's announcing the details now. Pay attention and you might learn something."

Roy gave Link a slightly annoyed look, but he relented almost instantly. "So, do you know anything yet?"

Link shook his head. "Not much. However, some of us aren't going to be competing. They get stuck with repairs and the sick ward, since the Frames and Polygons kill each other too often to be reliable."

"Why is that?" Marth asked.

Captain Falcon broke in then, pointing over to the corner of the lowered chamber where Mario stood. "It's starting."

All of them turned to listen to the most senior fighter, with the exception of Samus, who gave Marth an undecipherable look from under her helmet. Marth took note of it before paying attention to the short man in red as everyone else did. But he watched the armored woman carefully from the corner of his eye, wary.

"It looks like we've gotten a number of new members. As a result, some of us won't be competing in the tournament this year." Mario flashed them all a very stern look, which seemed odd to Marth, who had been certain the man in the red cap was more laid-back. He chalked it up to stress. "Call it a lucky break. This is the list of everyone who's sitting this one out…

"Link." The two Links exchanged a glance before Mario clarified, "The younger of you two." The younger Link heaved a sigh of relief. "But you will be required to help train your replacement. It doesn't have loopholes this time, sorry." If Marth had had better hearing, he would have heard the shorter Link curse before getting one of his ears tugged by Zelda. "Anyway, your job includes-"

"Loopholes?" Marth asked Link, whose blue eyes still intent on Mario. He still had his hand on Young Link's shoulder, though.

"Last time, the contract - or command - was worded loosely. That was what Mario defeat Master Hand. You see, Master Hand had never said that he wasn't allowed be attacked. He was only impossible to kill." Link explained quietly. He shrugged. "If Mario doesn't see a way out this time, we'll need to come up with something else."

"So, this tournament is for picking who gets to fight Master Hand?" Roy asked.

"Mostly. Whoever wins is allowed to leave, but Mario chose not to because he wanted to free the rest of us." Link said. "I suppose that the real point is simply to give Master Hand a challenge."

"Huh?" was the collective response.

"Master Hand is obsessed with finding and manipulating the strongest fighters. He dislikes being forced to give up his _toys_," the word was bitten out like a curse, "but he will dangle the opportunity for freedom in front of us if he thinks it will motivate us to fight our best."

"Why do we even have to follow the contract?" Young Link demanded, yet still too low for Mario to hear.

Link sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, really. Zelda?"

"The contract isn't just a piece of paper. It's a spell that he forced all of us to sign before we awoke in our cells." The princess closed her eyes and Marth saw her clench her fists. She went on tonelessly, "If we break it, we die. Everyone we know goes with us. It's forbidden magic in Hyrule - our home - and only someone viler than Ganondorf would even attempt to create it."

"I want to ask why, but I'm sure I don't want to know." Roy muttered.

_How did she know all of that without even knowing what the contract was? She's as new as I am!_ Marth thought instead.

"Roy!" Mario barked.

"Huh?" the redhead looked up from their conversation, blinking.

"You're out. The Hand got you a student, so you're bringing him up to speed."

"Oh." Roy mumbled. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Do you have his name yet?"

"No, the ink's smudged. It looks like it's only three letters long, though." Mario admitted, holding up the paper he had been reading off of. "The printer must be broken."

_What is a "printer?"_

"Mewtwo."

Marth looked around until he saw a strange being float into view. It was over six feet tall and covered in lavender fur with a vaguely feline head and a long, darker tail that looked like a club. Its purple eyes opened as Mario spoke, and it turned its head to look at him. That what when Marth saw arguably the most disturbing aspect of the creature - it had two necks.

(I sense your disgust, human. At least be honest about it.) Marth blinked and looked around, searching for the source of the echoing voice.

(You have never encountered a telepath, have you? I am Mewtwo.) Marth wondered if he would jump out of his skin - this was simply too strange. (I am here, always, for advice. I have yet to let the little ones down.) Somehow, Marth got the impression that the creature was mentioning the other creatures, named Jigglypuff, Pikachu, and Pichu.

"Mewtwo, the new kid is already here and waiting for you in the same cell as the other new arrivals." Mario said. The cat-creature nodded and floated toward the door before simply vanishing in a flash of light.

Mario cleared his throat. "There's a list here of everyone who will be helping out in the sick ward…huh." Then Mario shook his head, seemingly in disbelief, before going on. "Doctor Mario, Pichu, and…who are these people? I've never heard of them before…"

"Can I see that, Mario?" a person with a fox's head and tail asked. Mario held out the sheet of paper to the vulpine, who scratched behind his ear and scanned the list. A person with the head, tail, and hands (or wings…) of a vibrant blue hawk read over his shoulder.

"That's Fox, before you ask." Link put in helpfully. Marth noticed that both Roy and Young Link had disappeared. He wondered if they were meeting their counterparts now. "The bird next to him is Falco."

"How do you know them?" Marth asked, tilting his head in confusion as the hawk glanced up and caught his gaze with a scowl. Marth averted his eyes - apparently, no one here liked to be stared at.

"Fox isn't new, and he introduced me to Falco as soon as he could. That was about a week ago." Link said. "They're best friends."

"Okay everybody, raise your hands if you can recognize any of these names. They're odd." Fox said above the murmurings of the gathered fighters. "Okay…Midna?" Link put his hand up.

"Medli?"

No one raised their hands.

"Okay, so maybe one of the others knows whoever this is…um, Ridley?" Samus raised the cannon on her right arm. Marth could almost feel her glaring, though he had no idea what she was so angry about.

"Oh wait, there are more new arrivals at the end of this. I'll come back to these guys later." Fox coughed suddenly, and in that pause, Falco snatched the list away. Fox glared at him.

"Whatever." was Falco's response. "Captain Olimar (pal of yours, Falcon?), Diddy Kong…" A massive brown ape near the back of the room gave a cheer. Unless Marth was mistaken, the beast was wearing a red tie. "Shut up, DK. Anyway, then there's someone named Lucas coming in, and (what the hell?) a Meta Knight -" A pink puffball sitting near the boy with the red cap jumped up and down. "-and yeah, you can pipe down, too. And…King Dedede (who the hell named these weirdoes, anyway?) -" The puffball said something that sounded like "Poyo!" and jumped again. Falco threw a small metal hexagon at him and missed. "Wario comes next!"

Mario snatched the list back again while the pink thing retaliated with a giant wooden mallet. "Then there's someone named Pit, another person named Snake, a Sonic…Wolf O'Donnell, R.O.B., a Pokémon Trainer… and that's it, I think."

"This is going to be a pain." Link muttered. "I can't believe Master Hand managed to kidnap so many fighters."

"I know." Zelda murmured. "It seems so surreal. How will we help save them all? There are too many for one or two escape attempts."

"… back to the people who are getting jobs in the sick ward." Mario was saying. "I'll just read them off. It says we can meet them later, in any case."

_This ought to be good._ Marth thought sarcastically. Then he went on worriedly, _How is this going to even work? There's too much going on - too many people. There's no way -_

"Mist. Soren. Lilina. Eliwood." Mario sighed. Marth thought he knew why. This was too much for one person to deal with. He was like the man who read back the casualty reports to a war-weary general. He dealt with even more regret than the fighter with the most kills under his belt.

"Next up is everyone who's stuck on maintenance: Krystal. Slippy Toad." Marth was sure he saw both Fox and Falco twitch at the mention of those names.

"Waluigi. Princess Daisy." Luigi looked at his brother in shock, as did Princess Peach.

"'Three yellow Pikmin', whatever that means." Mario went on, his face contorted in a deep frown. "Knuckles. Tails."

"What can possibly come after this?" Marth whispered.

"Don't push it." Link said through gritted teeth.

"There are a few people we're going to have to tell about this." Zelda added. "Roy mentioned once that his father's name was Eliwood. Lilina is his fiancée."

"Next are the people who just have odds-and-ends jobs. I think they'll be cooking and cleaning or something." Mario announced.

"Sheeda." Marth blinked as Mario spoke. That couldn't have been right. Sheeda wasn't…she couldn't… Marth's gloved fist clenched. If Sheeda was hurt, he'd kill Master Hand, and damn the consequences.

He tuned out the rest and thought only of how he would crush Master Hand at his own game later in the tournament.

"Calm down." It was Zelda. Marth looked at her, still trying to focus on that anger. "That's not going to do anyone any good. Calm down and think, like the rest of us. We don't want our loved ones hurt either, but the only way out is to plan and act accordingly."

Marth took a deep breath. Yes, he remembered this lesson. In his first days as a commander, he had been taught to think under pressure. He couldn't make a mistake, or someone he knew could die.

Roy had mentioned being appointed general of a united army. If anyone had a right to be mad, Roy did, Marth realized. Master Hand had his father and his betrothed. If Roy wasn't angry when the news reached him, Marth would at least know the rage could be controlled.

He needed control. Marth needed to plan his enemy's demise meticulously to get him back properly. That would require restraint.

He could do that.

* * *

Some time later, Marth would admit that he had very little idea how to get around the prison complex.

Far larger than he had assumed, Marth realized that the entire fortress they were in was simply a well-constructed cage, impregnable from the inside out. Every layer of masonry and metal sheeting was covered in dozens of protective enchantments that Zelda had identified. Fox, meanwhile, had introduced him to the concept of laser-proofing by firing his strange weapon - a "blaster" - at the wall. The streak of sizzling red light had bounced off a wall of light covering the actual structure, neatly parting Bowser's orange mane as Fox made his escape. The secondary wall was apparently a type of force field that deflected anything the spelled stone couldn't stop on its own.

Link had mentioned how to get to the various private training arenas. The swordsman with the pointed ears was not interested in any further conversation, muttering something about finding someone named "Midna" in the sick ward. Marth left him to it; after all, he didn't want to pester Link any further today.

Marth walked down the hallways, utterly lost. The ceiling glowed with a soft white light, so he could see well enough, but he still hardly knew up from down. Link hadn't been very specific at all. Now, was he suppose to turn right or left at the next intersection…? He stood in the center of the hallway, looking alternately to the left or right.

_BAM_! The choice was taken from him when he was smacked into from behind. His forehead hit the opposite wall and he saw stars for a moment or two. Before he realized it, he was lying on his stomach with his head spinning. Grunting, he forced his arms under himself and rose to his knees.

He blinked away the spots and stars and saw that the person who had nearly flattened him into the stone was actually two people, followed at a much more sedate pace by a third. He tried to stand, but his head throbbed with a vengeance. "Ow…"

"Are you okay?" It was a girl's voice. Looking up, Marth realized that she was, if anything, barely older than Young Link. She had honest, open blue eyes and light brown hair that went to her shoulders. She wore a blue neck scarf over her short yellow dress and held a silver staff topped with a large blue globe. She looked at him with concern.

"I think so." Marth replied. He wasn't lying - he'd been hit over the head often enough during his early training to know when a bump on the head was just that. He stood, rubbing the soon-to-be-bruise on his head, frowning slightly.

"Mist, leave him. We were trying to find Ike, remember?" The speaker was farther back in the hallway and about Marth's age, if a little younger. He had long jet-black hair that reached his waist and unnerving red eyes that stood out against his pale skin. In the center of his forehead was a red mark that looked like a stylized _N_ with a vertical line through it. He wore all grey clothing and a black cloak over it.

"Ah…right. Sorry, Soren," the girl, Mist, replied.

"Stop being such a downer," said the second girl. She was older than Mist, about Soren's age, with blue hair and eyes much like Marth's own. She wore red instead of Mist's yellow, and had a short cape instead of the other girl's scarf. In fact, she reminded Marth strongly of Sheeda, though the blue tome under her arm indicated a mage rather than a pegasus knight. She turned to Marth and said, "I'm Lilina. They're looking for someone called Ike. I'm looking for Roy. Who are you?"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down." Marth said. "I was looking for Roy and…Ike, was it?…too. Someone else - Link - said that I'd find them somewhere down this hallway. But he wasn't very clear, so I'm not sure which way I was suppose to go."

"Typical blockhead." Marth heard the black-haired mage mutter. He ignored it.

"Oh. Why are you looking for Roy?" Lilina asked, looking around and considering the hallway as well.

Marth shrugged. "There was an announcement. Princess Zelda mentioned that Roy's father and you were both on the list. And I was trying to find him to tell him, since Link and Zelda both left to meet old friends." He glanced at Soren and Mist. "Your friend's name wasn't announced, but Mario did say that it was only three letters long."

Mist smiled. "That's my brother you're talking about." She shook her head. "Still, I want to see him."

"Hmph," said Soren.

(None of you know the location of the training rooms, do you?) Marth almost jumped again and turned sharply. There was Mewtwo, watching the four of them with his even purple gaze. Marth could see a second, shorter, darker figure standing behind him.

"What was - what is that?" Mist asked. She sounded startled, but not scared.

(I am Mewtwo.) he replied. (This is Lucario.) At that, the second person stepped forward.

If Mewtwo was a misshapen cat, Lucario was closer to a three-colored, upright jackal. His chest and abdomen were covered in pale yellow fur while his thighs and upper arms were blue. His lower legs were oriented like a dog's and as dark as his arms. His face had a black streak across his red eyes and black clumps of fur hung from the back of his head. But most shocking of all were the shining metal spikes jutting from his chest and the back of both his hands (or paws).

(The training rooms are this way.) Mewtwo said. (I was just showing Lucario the way, as we need to practice fighting one another.) He took a step forward and added. (Follow me unless you like being lost.)

So they did. Marth was slightly more adjusted to the general weirdness of this place, so he didn't comment on the fact that they were following the orders of a six-foot lavender cat. The situation was just too absurd. _But_, he supposed, _that was the charm. Anything was possible here, short of actually getting out._

"How long have you been here, Mewtwo?" Marth asked the cat.

(Several months. Master Hand, despite what you think, is exceedingly slow at collecting all the pieces to his mad games.) Mewtwo replied.

"Is that all we are? Pawns?" Soren demanded.

Mewtwo shook his too-large head. Marth could only assume his spine was very, very strong to support it. (The fighters are the pieces. The rest of us? We are merely hostages for the new recruits.)

"That would explain some of it." Marth muttered. There was no other reason for dragging Sheeda into this.

(And here we are.) Mewtwo announced, stopping at a massive, metal desk panel with buttons strewn everywhere. It was squeezed into an indent in the metal-covered stone walls. A triad of glass screens surrounded it. Each one showed a collection of images flickering together too quickly for Marth to understand. Mewtwo indicated four glass tubes off to the side with a lazy flick of his thin wrist. (That is where they will be coming out. I need to have them ejected to stage my practice with Lucario in any case. Roy chose to do battle on _my_ preferred stage, after all.)

"You treat this like a game." Soren noted. All of his earlier annoyance seemed to have left him in favor of a sort of dull shock. Marth wondered when that would wear off.

(It is. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.) Mewtwo replied cryptically. (There is a false audience, a prize at the end…how is it not a game? A game I no longer have to play, but a game nonetheless.)

(I don't think it's funny at all.) Marth decided that Lucario must have been the one replying this time.

"Neither do I." Mist said, watching the screens as they shifted again. Finally, the images stabilized - all three were now displaying a stark battlefield hovering over an endless abyss. Three platforms floated above the base, but nothing else made the place stand out.

In the middle of the arena, Roy and a blue-haired man were slashing at each other furiously. Marth didn't have to be an expert to see the diverging points with the two of them - Roy was clearly more used to wielding a slimmer sword from the way his stance looked, while Ike's sword was much heavier-looking and he used it accordingly, dealing heavy blows to Roy's redirecting blocks. Marth saw, however, that Roy was winning. Power meant nothing without speed, and though Ike was clearly no pushover, Roy was slightly faster and landing more blows.

Then, with a subtle twist of his blade and a foot hooked around Ike's ankle, Roy had him on the ground, disarmed with the redhead's blade an inch from his nose.

Mewtwo pushed a button with his three rounded fingers. (If you two are quite done, you should be leaving. There is a crowd here waiting to see you.)

"The tournament doesn't start for another two weeks, Mewtwo." Roy replied, his voice strangely distorted and coming not from the screen, but from mesh-covered boxes located above it. He helped Ike up with a quiet apology.

(These are not audience members, Roy. I believe you know them personally.) Mewtwo said. Then he added dryly, (Hurry up, would you?)

"All right, all right." Roy said with a sigh. "We were done anyway."

(I highly doubt that,) the cat responded. He pressed another sequence of buttons and both fighters vanished in a burst of white light.

"It looked like the light from Rewarp powder." Soren commented quietly to Mist. She nodded.

There were another two bursts of light a moment later in two of the glass tubes. A moment later, both Roy and Ike had appeared and stepped out of them.

Neither of them got much farther than that. Roy was tackled instantly by Lilina, who looked like she would crush his ribcage very soon thereafter, while Mist jumped up and hugged her brother fiercely around his neck. Marth thought that Ike was lucky he and his sister were of very different sizes. Soren hung back and watched the display with indifference, though Marth did see him let out a relieved sigh before the mask came back up.

Now that Marth could get a good look at him, he realized that Ike looked like an older version of Roy, albeit with blue hair and eyes like Marth. He was taller than either of them, almost that same height as Samus in her full armor, with a much rougher appearance overall than either the prince or young noble. Still, the easy way he moved despite the strength he had displayed in his fight contrasted sharply with the gentle way he hugged his sister back.

Marth chalked it up to a lifetime of fighting and stopped worrying about it. He doubted his personality was anything like his noble bearing would suggest, either. The reserved, quiet, calm, even rather sheltered person he had been was long dead. It lived on only in the life of his older sister Ellis, the Queen of Altea.

_The world is full or contradictions; it's people even more so._

* * *

"Hey, why didn't you go into a match with Samus like the chart said?" Roy asked as they were being shepherded back to their cells; apparently, Roy wasn't being transferred to a new cell block like Young Link was (Master Hand's justification for it was the little boy's relative age). Ike, however, followed them with a Frame's Ray Gun against the back of his neck. Marth decided not to comment on this, and Roy kept his mouth shut as well.

Marth had wondered for a short time where the other three members of their entourage had went, but then decided that he didn't want to know. He did know, however, that all three of them would be forced to help in the medical ward once the tournament started in earnest. Hopefully, they would be safer than those who actually had to fight.

"I forgot." Marth replied slowly. "I mean…I had thought that with all the announcements, the matches would be put off."

Roy smirked at him. "Well, usually they would be. But sometimes Master Hand gets eager to test the new meat." His smirk changed into a grimace. He sighed. "I can't even keep up an act at joking. I wish we were already fighting each other. It'd take the edge off this stress."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm not smiling, am I?"

Marth looked away, spotting the cell he had woken up in several hours beforehand. But… "Did something change while we were gone?"

Roy followed his gaze and peeked around the Frame walking in front of them, narrowing his eyes at the cell door. "I think so…yes, we ended up with three more beds. I guess Link isn't being transferred, either."

"Who's Link?" Ike asked. The Frame hissed at him and poked him more insistently with the end of its Ray Gun; he ignored it. Marth had to admit - that took serious (or stupid) bravery.

"You'll meet him in a bit, one way or another." Marth answered.

In a moment, they had come to the cell door and all three of them were roughly forced inside. Marth immediately made his way over to one of the beds and flopped down on it. Lying on his side on the bed furthest from the door, he faced the others and watched disinterestedly as Ike and Roy each took a seat in the next two beds. Link wasn't in the cell at all.

Not that Marth minded. Being born into royalty (excluding his long tenure as a hated exile/traitor to the usurper that had killed his father), he was always trying to understand the people he would rule someday. It was from that habit of curiosity-driven learning that he continued to listen to Roy and Ike trade stories, even if he wanted nothing more than to sleep until the entire incident was over.

It was fascinating. He already knew that Roy's home continent was called Elibe and the basics of the other teen's crusade against Bern as head of the Lycian Alliance Army (later changed to "the Etrurian Army" for political and morale reasons), but he had had no idea of the extent of the campaign.

Marth also didn't know much about the geography of Elibe other than it was larger than Akanea, but it didn't stop him from enjoying Roy's story. Apparently, the entire war had started originally because King Zephiel of Bern had been convinced in his early childhood that all humans were greedy and corrupt, choosing to conspire with a powerful dragon in order to rebuild the world with the dragons at the top of the food chain.

Of course, that had led to the invasion of the League of Lycia, starting with the less-defended areas like the Sacaean plains and wherever traitors put down roots. It had culminated in Bern capturing Castle Araphen and decimating the Lycian Alliance Army, leading to the death of its head (who turned out to be Lilina's father, Lord Hector). Roy had been forced to take command as his father was ill and would otherwise be the leader after Hector's passing.

Marth wondered where Roy had gotten such tactical skill - he had simultaneously been the general and master tactician without a problem, apparently. It culminated in a particularly strong display of those skills when he forced a traitorous usurper to reveal his alliances to Bern.

The aims of Bern had apparently become more convoluted as the war went on, involving the attempted assassination of Etruria's prince several years previous and a number of turncoats within the various factions. By the time Roy spoke of the hidden village that was populated by mamkutes (dragons with the ability to become human at will) and half-mamkutes, Marth was ready to understand the utter absurdity of Elibe and its population.

And _then_, they had finally faced off against the King of Bern himself, only to learn that he had summoned the Dark Dragon Idoun to produce soulless war dragons in order to wipe out all humans on Elibe.

"…but I defeated her using the Binding Blade." Roy said, talking about the ancestral Bern sword he still wore at his hip. "We managed to save her from Zephiel's orders in the end, and last I heard, she was recovering well in Arcadia with Fa."

Marth's head was busy spinning, so he didn't interject when Ike started his story.

Ike's, if anything, was _worse_.

It was unusual that Ike wasn't a noble of any kind, he thought. He was a commoner blessed with a number of skills, inheriting his father's mercenary band when the man was murdered. Even his heavy sword was an ancestral weapon, have been in the family for unknown generations. No, Ike's background didn't bother Marth very much, he decided. It was the continent of Tellius and its history that did.

Marth hadn't minded Roy mentioning mamkutes - there were a number of them in Akanea as well - but Ike's story involved three major _nations_ of humanlike beast warriors, a few conspiracies in high places, a destroyed nation called Crimea, a Bern-like kingdom with another King Zephiel on its throne (who was instead named Ashnard and was, if anything, far worse), and Ike's pursuit of his father's killer, the Black Knight.

Even at the end, Marth's fatigue-bogged mind didn't feel like trying to comprehend the reasoning behind any of it. He nodded off just as Link was finally shoved into the room.

* * *

A/N: So ends chapter two. The real fighting begins in a bit, folks. Drop me a review and tell me what you think! This story will contain all thirty-nine fighters, a number of characters from their series' and the various bosses and grunts of all three games. This is going to be _epic_, my readers.

And…Marth still hasn't met up with Sheeda. : (


	3. Insanity Prelude

Chapter Three: Insanity Prelude

A/N: Er… (embarrassed silence)

I'll go back and change spelling and such in the first chapter to make it match this one in a bit.

And Sheik is a _woman_. Why? Because Sheik = Zelda. And I like annoying yaoi fan girls. TAKE THAT.

* * *

Marth lashed out and caught Samus in the side of the knee with his heel, successfully forcing the armored bounty hunter to her knees for a moment. Marth scrambled to his feet, having been knocked to the ground by her previous strike, and leapt back immediately, even if Samus had the advantage in range.

Ike missed him by a hair. Marth leapt over him, using the mercenary's bent back as a springboard, and ended up flipping again, slamming one hand down to take the weight, to avoid one of Link's arrows. Granted, the other swordsman hadn't been aiming at him, because if he had, Marth was sure he would be skewered already.

Ike came again, and this time Marth blocked. He rolled with the blow -- Ike seemed to be at least twice as strong as he was, based on momentum -- and twisted the Falchion under Ragnell and smashed the side of his sword into the side of Ike's head, sending him reeling. A moment later, Samus was up again, and Marth's sword nearly bent under the strain when Samus's arm cannon slammed into it.

Link moved forward then, swatting Samus's incoming missile aside, making it explode in Marth's face. As he fell backwards off the edge of the platform and into the tunnel area of the Hyrule Temple arena, he saw Link hurl a crude bomb at Ike, who dodged with uncanny speed borne of fear. He thought he heard Link curse as a humming noise filled the air -- Samus must have been using her energy whip or grapple or whatever it was to deflect the bomb.

Marth slammed into the ground, then was forced to roll away as Ike brought his sword down like an axe. The prince whirled about instantly and slashed, only to have his own weapon overturned and Ike's foot driven into his stomach. Again Marth was send rolling, but this time the drop to the lowest floor was a bit more than he'd had last time -- he managed to land on his feet, then stabbed upwards and caught Ike on his descent. The other blue-haired swordsman went sailing.

Above, Link and Samus seemed to still be fighting ferociously, though Marth still couldn't see either of them. Every once in a while, the light from an explosion would cast their shadows on the tunnel, but neither he nor Ike really knew what the two veterans were throwing at each other.

"What are they doing?" Ike asked, still out of striking distance.

"I don't really know. I guess their fights require explosives, for some reason." Marth said, then he coughed. He didn't need to look at Ike to tell the other swordsman was exhausted. They'd already been whaling on each other for half an hour, and those last few blows had _hurt_. Where Marth couldn't take a deep breath, Ike was swaying, probably because Marth had gotten in that head strike.

(Are you two finished? Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong would like to practice in this arena.) Mewtwo's mental voice said. Marth found that he had the urge to jump again and squashed it. (I can teleport you straight to the infirmary, if you want.)

"Thank you, Mewtwo." Marth wheezed. "I think he broke a rib." All this for a penalty match because he'd missed the last one? Ike and Link had volunteered, though…

"Sorry." Ike said.

(Very well, then.) Mewtwo said. (It will only take a moment.)

Marth thought he felt his skin fizz, as if it was…he made the mistake of glancing at his hand and was treated to the sight of his flesh vanishing in midair. _Um…_

The next thing he and Ike knew, they were not in the arena anymore.

* * *

(A curious creature, aren't you?) Mewtwo remarked to the black-haired mage standing next to him. Soren ignored it with some difficulty -- it was hard to ignore a voice in one's head, after all. The huge lavender mutant regarded the pair of primates to his other side.

DK, a massive brown gorilla wearing a red tie, pointed at the teleporters. Diddy Kong, a monkey with a baseball cap and a small shirt, bounced eagerly on DK's shoulder. Noting the pair's enthusiasm and giving a mental shrug, Mewtwo said, (You can enter the battlefield now. Marth and Ike are in the infirmary already, and I doubt Link and Samus will notice you.)

As DK and Diddy clambered into the teleporters, Lucario, who was leaning against the opposite wall, said, (Good luck, you two.) He closed his red eyes again and seemed to concentrate, and his forepaws glowed blue for a moment. Mewtwo wondered about the other Pokemon for a moment before returning his attention to the control panel and sending the Kong pair off to fight.

"How does this work?" Soren asked.

(Not particularly well.) Mewtwo said. He pressed a number of keys and a new item appeared on the screen -- a small red-and-white sphere -- and dropped into the lowest level of the stage. Immediately, Link and Samus tore after it, fighting all the way. (Only four fighters can enter an arena at a time, and even then only when their identification codes are properly entered. It is so much less efficient than the machine I designed, though admittedly for a different purpose.)

"You didn't answer my question." Soren pointed out. _Is that irritation I hear?_

(I don't know.) Lucario broke in. (If I had to guess, pressing all those buttons does something. You and I are from similar places -- they have nothing like this where I lived.)

(To answer your question,) Mewtwo said evenly, (there is little to understand. A combination of keys will make this machine perform different actions than another combination. There is lettering on the keys. Do you see it?)

"Yes." Soren said cautiously, obviously wondering where this was leading.

(The combination R-E-V-E-R-T-1 will cause Samus to suddenly become reenergized, as if she had used a…what is the word you use?) Mewtwo stopped, shaking his feline head.

"A vulnerary." Soren supplied. "I think I understand. It's only a matter of finding the correct combination."

(Yes. And R-E-V-E-R-T-2 would heal Ike instead. It is simple enough. However, the wrong one can lead to truly terrible things. It is no coincidence that I am the only one allowed to operate this machine with the exceptions of Mario, Samus, Falco, and Fox.) Mewtwo explained. (This particular machine, when its teleporters are deactivated and keypad locked, can function as a very efficient torture device.)

Mewtwo saw Soren's red eyes widen. "You can't be serious."

(I am. It is the reason fighters such as Samus and Captain Falcon, who have no one they are close to, continue to play at Master Hand's game.) Mewtwo informed him. Mewtwo glanced at the screen, where Diddy Kong had summoned Ho-Oh and everyone was running for their limbs, if not their lives. (It replays one's memories. I can only assume that Master Hand has been watching us for far longer than we thought, and far more efficiently than I thought possible.)

(What do you mean?) demanded Lucario, standing up straight and stalking over to the console. (How far back?)

(It varies. I myself am only four years old, from creation to now. However, I have noticed a number of scenes play out for Master Hand's amusement that are far older. At one point, for example, I could sense Master Hand reviewing one of the older records.) Mewtwo paused, feeling a headache coming on. When one depended as much on their brain power as Mewtwo did, it was troubling, to say the least.

(This particular record was that of Ganondorf.) Mewtwo said, trying to remember the images he had gleaned from Master Hand's twisted mind some time ago. (It was of Ganon, actually, destroying Hyrule Castle and entering a death match with Link. I only found this all out later, you understand. I had to ask Link to confirm the details. He was shocked -- not only had those events been many years ago, even if we do not age here, but they had actually belonged to another _timeline_. In other words, Link had actually prevented those events, and yet somehow Master Hand knew they had happened, somewhere, at some point.)

(You have to know how ridiculous this sounds.) Lucario said skeptically. (How do you know you didn't read Link's mind instead?)

(It is because I _cannot_ read Link's mind.) Mewtwo snapped. (Having him and Young Link introduces a temporal paradox that prevents mental powers from working. Additionally, the elder Link can transform into a wolf outside of the arena, making his mind all but utterly impervious.)

(Okay, assuming that Master Hand could see everyone's past, I suppose he chooses who undergoes this torture depending on their personal history.) Lucario gave a sigh. (This is sounding sillier and sillier as it goes on.)

(Mostly correct. Occasionally he wishes to compound the ordeal.) Mewtwo sighed, mirroring the frustrated Steel-type, and said, (I suppose it does sound contradictory and overly complicated. But then, weren't you trapped in a crystal staff for a thousand years?)

Lucario stiffened. (Impossible! How--?)

(Checkmate.) said Mewtwo. He turned to Soren. (You can go to the infirmary to see your friends if you want. We are only debating.)

"I would, if I knew where that was." Soren said rather waspishly.

Mewtwo looked back at Lucario. (Take the young man to the infirmary. I will continue to monitor the combatants' progress.)

Lucario snapped a glare at his supposed mentor and walked over to the mage, who met his redirected red glare with one of his own. Mewtwo thought to himself, _Wonderful. _

He felt another presence shortly after turning back to the console and noted with some annoyance that Lucario and Soren had not moved. Mewtwo sighed again (and thought he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately), then looked at the new person.

The person was best described as a monster. While Mewtwo would readily admit that he was a mutant abomination of science, this creature appeared to be an imposing, emaciated purple dragon. It was obviously no contender for heaviest, like Bowser, but its spindly limbs took up the entire hall space. Soren and Lucario didn't seem inclined to challenge such a beast, but they were still ready to defend themselves -- Lucario stood at the front, a blue aura flickering like flame over his paws, and Soren hung back, clutching a green tome Mewtwo had somehow not noticed before.

Mewtwo almost casually looked back at the console and said to Samus, (Miss Aran, you have a large, ugly, hostile visitor. Would you like to receive him now?) He got a burst of rage in reply, as apparently Samus was too busy decking DK with her arm cannon to formulate a verbal response.

A moment later, Samus snapped at Link, "Back off for a minute!" Then, "What did you say, Mewtwo?"

(There is a…Ridley, here for you.) Mewtwo said, briefly drowning out the sounds of Lucario using Aura Sphere to block Ridley's fire breath. (He is currently attacking Lucario and a noncombatant, Soren.) Mewtwo gave an idle burst of psychic energy and Ridley's triangular head slammed into the ceiling.

"Deal with him until I get there." Samus said flatly. "I can activate the teleporters from this side. Link! Do you want to come?"

"I'm fine, Samus." Link said, straightening his green cap. "I can wait. Let me just tell the two Kongs to stop for a bit." A peanut the size of a cannonball hit him in the arm. "It'll take too long otherwise."

(Very well.) As Samus punched in numbers on the panel on her cannon, Mewtwo turned his attention fully to the space dragon.

Ridley had Lucario tangled in his long tail, from which the Steel-type continued to blast him with aura energy. It so happened that Lucario was also experienced enough to know Extremespeed -- even though he couldn't get loose, the stress from the near-constant vibration was starting to make the dragon flail as his scales cracked under the strain. Ridley also had Soren pinned to the wall several feet above the floor, though one of he mage's arms was free and he could still blast the dragon in the face with wind-based magic. Ridley snarled and slammed both of his opponents into the floor.

Lucario, as a Steel-Fighting type, could take hits from anything, up to and including Mewtwo's Shadow Ball at full force, so he just tore free of Ripley's tail and hit him in the face with Force Palm. Soren couldn't seem to get up -- he was stunned and still trying to straighten out his breathing. _Well, Roy did say once that mages did not have very good defenses._

As the teleporter behind him activated and Samus stepped through, Mewtwo stepped in. With Soren still locked in his clawed hand, Ridley shot a fireball at the Psychic-type. Mewtwo actually remembered defending against a very similar attack -- Ash's Charizard had used Flamethrower on him once. As easily as before, Mewtwo brought up a shield that deflected the blow to the floor below Ridley. With the dragon thus distracted, Mewtwo charged in and unleashed his new attack -- Psycho Cut.

A purple wave of kinetic energy appeared in midair and Mewtwo nudged it into Ridley's chest. The dragon shrieked stumbling back. Mewtwo struck again, his powers making the dragon's arms spasm. Soren fell limply to the floor, and Mewtwo heard Samus's arm cannon finish charging. She dove into the fray, launching the Charge Shot at point-blank range.

Ridley's free clawed hand ripped into the front of Samus's chest plate just as he was sent rocketing down the hall. Lucario leapt free and launched a small Aura Sphere after the beast, seemingly out of spite.

As the dragon disappeared, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief, with the exception of Samus, who was inspecting the damage to her suit critically. She pressed a switch on her arm cannon and the armor fell apart.

More accurately, the Power Suit's connections shut down and the entire ensemble basically fell off, though other than the deep gouge in the chest plate, there seemed to be no structural damage. Without the armor, Samus wore a skintight blue spacesuit. She grunted. "I really need this thing to stay together better."

(True. Could you please take my place monitoring the console? I will be willing to interrogate Ridley on his conduct.) Mewtwo said. Without turning around, he added, (Lucario, I _insist_ that you escort Soren to the infirmary.)

"Bossy, aren't you?" Samus commented. "I could easily get rid of Ripley, even like this." Mewtwo though he saw her blue eyes flash in warning, but ignored it.

(Yes, but I doubt we are allowed to kill him.) Mewtwo said. (I will deal with him non-lethally, so you can fight him properly later.)

"Point taken." Samus said. With a swish of her yellow ponytail, she turned back to the computer and began ordering the fighters back.

Mewtwo looked back at the hallway. It appeared that Lucario had done as the cat had asked -- both he and Soren were gone.

* * *

Princess Zelda was in the infirmary that day. She didn't need to be, having decided not to spar with anyone on this particular day, but she didn't see the point of sitting around doing nothing, either. So she had decided to help out in the infirmary, whereas her cellmates Samus and Peach had chosen to fight and cook, respectively. Zelda wondered occasionally why Peach chose cooking over all else, but usually decided against asking. The last time she had almost done so, Peach had been experimenting with the idea of a flambé. It came out fine, but the kitchen did not.

She had decided to go about the complex as Sheik, after her pink one had been partially burned in her fight against Peach when the other woman had accidentally picked up a Bomb-Omb and thrown it away without checking who was in the way. It was their policy, sort of -- neither of them particularly wanted to have to spend a week recovering. They ignored what Samus said on that matter -- that woman had her armor to protect her, thus her opinion didn't count.

"Princess Zelda?" Sheik blinked. Could it be…? She turned and saw someone she hadn't seen in far, far too long. Sheik pulled her face cloth down so the newcomer could see her face better and lowered the enchantment masking her eye color.

"Midna!" It really was her. Tall, pale, and unearthly, Midna had made an appearance in her full form, still wearing the black-and-turquoise ensemble Sheik remembered. Her headdress was still the same, pulling her orange hair back from her face, and her familiar red eyes were soft. Midna's glowing skin markings remained, making it very clear that she was no denizen of Hyrule, and she was still barefoot.

"It's nice to see you again." Midna said with a smirk worth more than a smile as Sheik hugged her. When the disguised princess let go, Midna asked, "So, where's the furball?"

Sheik chuckled. "Oh, I think he's off doing _something_… Anyway, Midna, where were you heading?"

"I'm not sure." Midna said, frowning. "I was directed here by what looked like a small version of…" The absurdity of what she was about to say caught up to her and she stopped.

"Yes, if that's who I think it was, it was a younger version of Link." Sheik said. She shrugged. "Well, if you're lost, you could always come along. I'm going to see if I can help in the infirmary."

Midna didn't seem to know what to do for only a moment -- when Sheik walked away, she heard the taller woman following.

"I don't remember you wearing this before." Midna said after a while. "Is it supposed to be a disguise?"

"At one point, it was." Sheik replied with a nod as they turned a corner. "I pretended to be a boy in order to avoid Ganondorf at one point. Now, it's mostly a combat costume -- who can fight in a dress, after all? Besides, Peach scorched my dress the other day." She shrugged again, then pulled her face wrap back up as they came to a white door with a large red cross painted on it. "Here we are."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Midna demanded. Sheik gave her a questioning glance and she mimed pulling something up and down in front of her face.

Sheik put her hand on the door handle. "Habit, mostly. There are also a few people in there I wouldn't want to meet unarmed."

"Such as?"

"Ganondorf himself. He injured his left knee and broke four bones in his other foot late yesterday and has been snarling ever since." With that Sheik opened the door, and to Midna it must have seemed to be a cascade of harsh light and noise.

There were at least twenty people inside, all shouting and rushing about like madmen, some on cots, and some juggling small bottles with white caps. Sheik saw Luigi attempt to carry a stack of surgical tools over to where a white-garbed Mario was gesturing violently in the air, prodding the bedridden Captain Falcon repeatedly, apparently to make a point. Sheik took the tray from him and gave him an "eye-smile", since he couldn't see her face -- he smiled back and quickly dashed off as one of the numerous non-green Yoshi yelled something unintelligible.

"This place is an asylum," said Midna. Something small, lumpy and otherwise unidentifiable smacked into the wall next to her head.

"This isn't the worst I've seen it." Sheik replied, setting the tools next to Dr. Mario, who she had met yesterday. A kind man, if slightly overzealous. Perhaps he and Mario were alternate versions of each other, like Link and Young Link. The man thanked her absentmindedly and went back to lecturing Falcon on "why you shouldn't use Falcon Kick all the time if there are Bomb-Ombs everywhere."

"And is that Ganondorf over there?" Strangely, there was no fear or angry in the former imp's voice, just amused surprise. Sheik stuck her head out to see what Midna was looking at (and was nearly hit by a flying Yoshi egg), and wondered if it was a good idea to giggle.

Ganondorf was laid up at the end, his foot in a white cast and the other knee in a brace. At some point, someone had apparently gotten tired of his continual death threats and had taped his mouth shut with duct tape. With the additional ban on all magic other than the healing sort in the infirmary, Ganondorf was effectively out of the picture.

"Like my newest work?" someone said from Sheik's other side. She turned to see a girl of maybe seventeen, much like Link and herself, with long, straight blue hair, a red skirt too short for Sheik's idea of decent and long brown stockings from her upper thigh to her white boots. Additionally, she wore white armor over her chest and shoulders, had a slim sword strapped to her belt, and hefted an ornate lance over her shoulder. She stuck out a hand, "Princess Shiida of Talis, also a champion Pegasus Knight."

"Sheik," the other princess replied, giving Shiida's hand a quick shake. "Just wondering, but why are there so many princesses around now?" she asked no one in particular.

"What are you talking about? I'm a queen now!" protested Midna. Ah, right. The Twili had never had a problem with Midna as a ruler -- Zant had been a usurper, which was the only reason he had gained power at all. "It's just you, Peach, and this girl, isn't it?"

There was a shriek from down the row of beds -- apparently, fighters had started appearing out of thin air. Sheik thought she saw Marth and his new, taller counterpart appear on two empty cots. So those two had been fighting? Odd, she seemed to remember them choosing teams differently -- for one thing, Samus and Link had been fighting at the same time.

"Marth!"

"…Shiida?"

"Happy reunions galore." Midna grumbled. "So far, I've been nearly hit by what I assume was gruel, only solid, nearly stabbed to death by a number of small, sharp objects, and I think blue-hair over here left a bruise when that stupid pike whipped around--"

"Oh, stop complaining and enjoy it, would you?" Sheik muttered as a pill capsule the size of someone's head sailed through the air and someone (probably the little bird-nosed girl with the harp) screamed. "It's going to be back to normal all too soon."

* * *

"Did you need something to eat?" Peach asked her two-dimensional assistant when he came in several hours late.

"Beep." Mr. Game & Watch said.

"Well, if you changed your mind, turnip soup is over there." Peach said, gesturing over at a pot somewhere between her and the mess hall's table (which left quite a few pots to choose).

"Beep?"

"No, I didn't sneak a black Bomb-Omb in and I don't know how I could without it blowing up."

"Beep," said the flat man.

"I know you didn't mean it. And help the new girl set the small table, would you? I think she's a little out of her depth." Peach said, turning back to her largest stewpot and the nearby saucepan. "And get the poor man out there some tea, if there is any. He sounds terrible."

There was a crash accompanied by a storm of coughs from the dining area just as Falco stuck his head in the kitchen. Mr. Game & Watch scurried off to assess the damage and Falco huffed. "So, it's a disaster already."

Peach gave him an uncharacteristic scowl. Falco paled under his feathers. Cooking was probably the only thing that could make the ever-bubbly Princess Peach testy. "If you plan on commenting, there's another apron over there. I need all the help I can get, and Mr. Game & Watch is very busy. Get in here and do some honest work."

Falco ran away as fast as he could. Peach's thrown ladle banged harmlessly off the kitchen door.

* * *

"What's going on, Ness?" Lucas asked his temporary mentor from behind the other boy's place at the library table. They had both heard the crashing and screaming from somewhere out in the halls and Lucas especially was unnerved by it. What could be happening?

"Would you believe this is what they're always like? All that banging and battle cry-ing and stuff --it's what they do. Besides, even if it was worse than normal, it's just because we have so many new people." Ness said.

Pikachu, having evolved recently (as in, twenty minutes ago in a fight with Lucas) from Pichu, sat by its elder on the tabletop. They both peered with some interest at the pages as Ness flicked through them, looking for pictures.

"How are we going to tell the difference between these two?" Lucas wondered aloud. He pulled his own book off the little library cart, the librarian Wire Frame watching him with its blank face, and hurried back to the table with the other three.

"Pika," said the Pikachu with the wizard's hat.

"Pi." said the other, who had goggles on his forehead.

"Well, the older Pikachu we'll call…Wizard." Ness said in a whisper. Pikachu 1/Wizard didn't seem to have a problem with this. It was hard to have a problem with something when you're trying to take a nap and everyone around you is at least trying to accommodate that fact.

"Does that make the other one Goggles?"

"Uh-huh." The former Pichu didn't seem to care, either -- he was too busy trying to gnaw the cover off of Lucas's book in a teething fit to care about much.

There was a long silence. Then Lucas said, "This is about as creative as naming a dog Spot because it has a big ink blot on one ear."

"Exactly."

* * *

Captain Olimar, surrounded by a colorful parade of Pikmin, made his way to the…well, he wasn't quite sure where he was going, actually. He was being led along by a pink, apparently elastic puffball and a similar, though blue and sword-wielding, creature with a mask and metal shoes. They seemed to know where they were going, at least.

"Poyo!" said the pink one. _Kirby_, Olimar thought. Next to him, the blue one, Meta Knight, sighed with frustration as his counterpart rushed off.

"Ugh," grumbled Meta Knight. Still, he followed quickly, his cape unfurling into a pair of bat-like wings, and flew around the corner. Olimar, not wanting to be left behind to wander this maze of corridors mindlessly forevermore, followed with his Pikmin trailing.

"Poyopoyo!" Olimar heard Kirby say excitedly as Meta Knight blew out yet another sigh from behind his mask. Olimar peeked around the corner and found that the pink puffball had found another pair of fighters -- a set of brown-haired, dark-eyed twins wearing pink and blue parkas, respectively. To Olimar, it looked like they were mountain climbers, given how they bounced about, revealing the huge spikes on the soles of their shoes.

"Kirby?" The person who spoke this time was a teenaged boy, a redhead with blue eyes. Where had he come from?

"Poyo!" Kirby said in apparent delight. He instantly leapt upwards, inflating like a balloon for a moment, before landing on the boy's head. The teen prodded Kirby with some amusement, unbalancing the little creature for just a moment, then looked at the others gathered all around him.

"Are any of you lost?" he asked.

"Hmph," said Meta Knight, who promptly stalked off around another corner.

Roy just shook his head with awry smile on his face and (nearly dislodging Kirby again) turned back to the remaining group. "Any of you?"

"We're fine," said the blue-clad climber. The pink one said at the same time, "We know what we're doing." It had the odd effect of garbling most of the message.

"Okay then. Bye Popo, Nana." With that, Roy turned and left.

That apparently left Olimar's fate to a pair of parka-clad twins. He looked at the red Pikmin next to him, which shrugged and trotted off to follow Nana and Popo as they ran off. Olimar, giving a sharp whistle, led the other Pikmin off to battle with him. Metaphorically, at least. He didn't really think the pair was dangerous or that that particular Pikmin was at all stupid enough to lead him into a trap.

The less that was said of Bulborbs, the better.

* * *

Lucario, after dropping the dark mage off in the infirmary, went off to find the mess hall. Regardless of the fact that he hadn't fought with anyone since yesterday, he was hungry, had a headache, and honestly didn't feel like meeting anyone else today. After the brief scuffle with Ridley (because Lucario hadn't been hurt and thus didn't consider it a real battle), he had too much to sort out.

Mewtwo was a callous creature, but Lucario didn't really mind that. He had been like that once, hadn't he? But the other Pokemon had mentioned something he found disturbing.

He had created a similar machine, had he? What did it do? Why was he so close-minded about it? Lucario could understand his need for secrets -- he himself had been angry when Mewtwo had brought up the distant past -- but perhaps he had a much more dangerous source for his bitterness. What could it be?

"Hello, Lucario," said the woman in pink as Lucario sat down in the kitchen. She was tall, with yellow hair, blue eyes and a small crown on her head. A princess? What would a princess be doing preparing meals for a collection of warriors? It seemed so strange, like most of what Lucario had seen in the last twenty-four hours.

He still didn't fully understand how he had been pulled from the afterlife to here, but when Mewtwo had mentioned that Ganondorf had been retrieved from death _after_ death, essentially, that it wasn't nearly the oddest thing imaginable.

"Hey, don't you dare get up! You're still sick!" the princess said sharply to a man sitting in a chair off to the side. Lucario thought, with all the blankets she had somehow managed to surround him with, that he looked like a bundle of cloth.

The woman instantly spun about and shoved a bowl with some sort of stew into Lucario's paws. She dropped a spoon in almost as an afterthought. "I'm sorry, but I'm very busy right now. Enjoy it, though."

Lucario retreated to the corner of the room, where he sat on a countertop, since he had decided that if he stood about too long, his food would probably be stolen by something. Maybe one of the ominous-looking pink bombs wandering about would try to take it.

"And as I was saying, Lord Eliwood, you should really take better care of yourself. I could always get someone to take you to see Dr. Mario or Zelda. It could only do you good," said the woman as she bustled about the stovetops, occasionally stopping to taste something or add another spice of some sort. "Is Lilina back yet?"

Lucario looked over at the outward-swinging kitchen door that led to the main dining hall (that was almost never used, thanks to Master Hand's sudden paranoia regarding the fighters' free reign over the complex, according to Mewtwo) and a little man-shaped creature walked in through the crack between the door and its frame. He had to blink several times before he realized that yes, the little ink creature _had_ just done that. Was it a shadow? He decided not to think about it.

"Beep," it said.

"Hi, Mr. Game & Watch. Did you ever manage to find Falco?"

"Beep."

"Oh well. He wouldn't have helped much, anyway." She pulled a pot off the stove and placed it on a large, wet cloth. It instantly began to steam. "Lucario, are you eating that? I heard about the fight with Samus's old rival -- if you don't eat right, you won't get better."

(I wasn't hurt at all.) Lucario told her. He still didn't know her name. (The only one who was injured is already being healed.)

"Mm. All right," she said. She didn't turn to face him, but her voice was kind. "I'll let you go this time. Take care of yourself, okay? Otherwise you'll have to deal with me, got it?"

(Yes, Your Majesty.) Lucario said, bowing as far as he could, considering that he wasn't standing. He hurried finished the stew -- it was very rich and almost like the rations he and Sir Aaron had once used during their travels, but tastier.

"Oh, just call me Princess Peach. Or just Peach. Everyone does, except Mario and Luigi," she said dismissively. She wiped her hands on a dishcloth and put on a pair of oven mitts.

(Do you do everything in here?) Lucario asked wonderingly, looking around the room from end to end. It seemed impossible that anything less than a legion of chefs could possibly manage this place.

"Well, no. I get volunteers most days -- Mr. Game & Watch, would you get Roy? I don't think anyone told him his father is down here."

"Beep." And with that, the 2-D man was off. It seemed to Lucario that he literally walked through the nearest wall.

"He's a wonderful help, but sometimes I wonder if he needs a break." Peach said, pulling a tray out of the oven -- Lucario felt a blast of heat -- and set the breads down the cool on the countertop. "Do you want to help?"

(How could I be of service, Princess Peach?) Lucario asked curiously.

"Well, just come if I shout." Peach said. "Otherwise, make sure Eliwood doesn't overexert himself -- he nearly broke six plates earlier."

"My apologies, Princess." Eliwood said from under the sheets. Lucario wanted to know how he could be heard without psychic abilities. "I should have known I couldn't do so much so soon after recovering."

"Exactly! Really, no one around here seems to know when to just relax!" Peach sounded annoyed now.

(What about you, Princess?) Lucario asked.

Peach paused and appeared to think that over. "For me, it's easiest to be busy. It's the fighting that really worries me. Cooking _is_ my way of relaxing. Maybe Samus likes to shoot things or Zelda likes to help everyone who's sick or just read, but this is what I'm best at." She smiled. "They also learn not to mess with me -- after all, without me, it's back to gruel for everyone, not just the sick ones."

Was that an evil glint the saw in her eye?

_Bang_. Someone had apparently forgotten that the door opened outwards. "Ow…"

"Lilina, is that you?" Peach asked. She put down her wooden spoon and opened the door, to find a blue-haired girl rubbing her forehead.

"Yes. I'm sorry about disappearing like that. But I thought I saw…" Lilina seemed to be a nervous girl -- she looked close to tears.

"Well, no worrying about it now." Peach said, helping the girl to her feet and dusting her off. "If you thought you saw Roy, you probably did -- everyone knows he can't seem to sit still for more than half a second lately. If he's not training, he's reading, or sleeping, or, sometimes, eating."

(I wonder if that will change.) Lucario said mildly. (I saw him yesterday, and since getting a student, he seemed calmer than that.)

"Oh, he just has more energy, somehow." Peach said, shaking her head. "I sent Mr. Game & Watch after him, so he'll be along in a bit."

"The flat man? But how can he understand anything he says?" Lilina asked.

Peach smiled again. "Everyone gets used to it, eventually. Roy probably knows by now, anyway. He's probably rushing over here right now."

Curious, Lucario closed his eyes and concentrated on the aura of the redheaded boy he had met, briefly, yesterday. Sure enough, there was a madly-rushing signature in the mess hall, then the --

_BANG._ Why couldn't anyone remember the door?

_

* * *

_

A/N: Peach's personality = Team Mom.


End file.
